Legal Aid at Work

10/09/2026

Did you know that California is home to an estimated 170,000 indigenous migrants from the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Michoacán, including Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Purépechas? These Indigenous populations face unique challenges to accessing legal services, including language barriers, as they often only speak their native languages.

Legal Aid at Work aims to provide legal support to these underserved communities by partnering with organizations like MICOP/ProyectoMixtecoIndígena to produce know-your-rights workshops, provide free legal consultations, and develop workers’ rights materials in Indigenous languages so that everyone can exercise their rights as workers.

10/08/2026

Today is Latina Equal Pay Day! Did you know that Latina women who work full time, year round, and part time earn only 53 cents for every $1 earned by a white male? Take a stand against pay discrimination & occupational segregation! Raise awareness with Equal Pay Today! Campaign by posting from the social media toolkit on their website (equalpay2day.org)

We need for everywhere.

10/02/2026

Great news! AB 2495 has been signed into law, expanding the scope of prohibited unfair immigration-related practices that employers use to intimidate and dissuade workers from asserting their workplace rights.

When immigrants have been repressed and targeted like never before, the protections AB 2495 puts in place are needed more than ever. Too many immigrant workers are being prevented from using their voices to stand up for the rights they’re entitled to. This bill bolsters existing protection to ensure that employers who exploit immigration status to preemptively silence workers will pay a price for their tactics of intimidation.

09/25/2026

Grief isn’t limited to immediate family members, so why is bereavement leave? Let’s make sure bereavement leave reflects the reality of California families by passing SB 1149. Take action! Email Governor Gavin Newsom with the link in CA Work & Family Coalition bio or head to strongerca.org to learn about more bills you can take action on.

09/22/2026

Our lawsuit is moving forward!

For years, California has struggled to address a mounting backlog of workers claiming labor law violations, even as it collected millions of dollars from employers each year for enforcement. Now, a judge’s order may force the state to solve the problem. Workers represented by Legal Aid at Work and Moss Bollinger who say the office is failing to address the backlog are suing the state’s Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Under California law, the Labor Commissioner is supposed to adjudicate individual wage claims in a few months, but instead thousands of claimants are waiting years to have their cases heard, causing workers to fall behind on necessities such as food, rent, gas or utility payments.

In 2023, the agency took a median processing time of 854 days, or more than two years — six times longer than the maximum allowed by law — according to a 2024 state auditor’s report requested by lawmakers. Thousands of complaints had been pending for five years or more. This is unacceptable!

We will continue to fight for worker justice and that includes fighting for a wage claim process that truly works.

Check out the full story, covered by KQED and CalMatters under “Latest News and Press Releases” in our link in bio.

09/18/2026

Let’s talk about wage gaps. Overall, Latinas earn 49 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men in California. You may think this is only a low-wage problem, but did you know that Latina workers experience a large wage gap, especially if they have a college education?

Latinas with a bachelor’s degree earn 58 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men with a similar level of education. This means the typical Latina worker earns 51 cents less per dollar than a white worker, and a Latina with a bachelor’s degree earns 42 cents less per dollar.

But together, workers have power. Latinas in California have increasingly joined forces with diverse groups of workers and advocates to demand equal opportunities and wages. Legal Aid at Work is committed to joining that fight.

Hablemos de las brechas salariales. En general, las mujeres latinas ganan 49 centavos por cada dólar que ganan los hombres blancos no hispanos en California. Quizás piense que esto es un problema exclusivo de los empleos de bajos salarios, pero ¿sabía que las trabajadoras latinas enfrentan una brecha salarial considerable, especialmente si cuentan con estudios universitarios?

Las mujeres latinas con título universitario ganan 58 centavos por cada dólar que perciben los hombres blancos no hispanos con un nivel educativo similar. Esto significa que la trabajadora latina promedio gana 51 centavos menos por dólar que un trabajador blanco, y que una latina con título universitario gana 42 centavos menos por dólar.

Pero unidos, los trabajadores tienen poder. Las latinas en California se han unido cada vez más con diversos grupos de trabajadores y defensores para exigir igualdad de oportunidades y salarios. Legal Aid at Work está comprometida a unirse a esa lucha.

09/16/2026

“When people are stifled, prevented, and punished for speaking out on issues of the day that are important to them and to the country, we all suffer.”

Chris Ho, Legal Aid at Work (LAAW) Director of the National Origin and Immigrants’ Rights Program, who represents the Cisco employees during the EEOC’s investigation, explains the case and why the EEOC’s determination is incredibly important right now.

This is the first instance of the federal government finding that a major tech company likely failed to stop discrimination targeting employees who were collectively engaged in pro-Palestine activism.

Check out the full story, covered by The Guardian, Bloomberg Law, Al Jazeera, and the New York Times under “Latest News and Press Releases” in our link in bio.

09/15/2026

09/15/2026

As Hispanic Heritage Month begins, it’s worth putting a number behind the celebration: nearly 40% of those working in California — roughly 7.8 million people — are Hispanic or Latino. Latino labor is the heartbeat of California, spanning every industry, blue collar, white collar, and everything in between. That is serious worker power.

09/10/2026

Did you know that California’s Paid Family Leave program provides most workers with 8 weeks of wage replacement benefits each year when they need time away from work to care for a seriously ill loved one?
Life happens, and when we unexpectedly need to care for a parent, parent-in-law, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner, it pays to be prepared. Swipe through to see answers to our most frequently asked questions about Paid Family Leave for family caregivers, and share this resource with a coworker or loved one.

For more information about this resource and to find this resource in other languages, go to legalaidatwork.org/wf